Kingston >> The Rural Ulster Preservation Co. has been granted tax credits that will significantly offset the $18 million cost of converting a long-idle factory in Midtown into apartments for artists.

Kevin O’Connor, RUPCO’s chief executive officer, said the U.S. secretary of the interior has approved the scope of the project, a decision that guarantees the affordable housing agency millions of dollars in federal and state historic tax credits.

O’Connor spoke about the tax credit after a Thursday morning press conference at which TD Bank announced a $100,000 grant for the factory project, in which RUPCO will concert the former United States Lace Curtain Mill at Cornell Street and South Manor Avenue into into 55 apartments.

John Rath III, a senior vice president of the bank, said that the RUPCO project was selected from among 300 applications submitted to the bank. He said 25 grants of $100,000 each were given out for projects from “Maine to Florida.”

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Jennifer Gabriel, a vice president and community relations manager for the bank, said the RUPCO project is promising.

“The best rose to the top, and this was definitely one of the best,” she said of why the bank decided to assist the project.

At the press conference, held at the Kirkland building in Uptown Kingston, Mayor Shayne Gallo said the project will stabilize the area of Midtown where the factory building, idle for more than six decades, is located.

Gallo called the RUPCO plan it an “integral” part of his BEAT (Business, Education, Arts, Technology) initiative for the Broadway corridor and other parts of Midtown.

O’Connor said the TD Bank award is part of the housing agency’s effort to secure private financing for the project.

“This is a good start,”he said. “It is a good omen.”

O’Connor said that the approval of the historic tax credits was “critical” to getting the project done. Without the credits, the project would not be possible, he said.

In all, the tax credits will be used to finance 34 percent of the project, O’Connor said. He said this is the first time the agency has taken advantage of the state historic tax credit program, which was put in place two years ago.

On Tuesday, the Kingston Common Council approved a payment-in-lieu-of taxes, or PILOT, deal for the RUPCO project that will be in effect for 32 years and allow the agency to make smaller-than-normal tax payments.

O’Connor said the agency expects to close on the purchase of the factory building by the end of the month and that renovations will begin in January.

The factory building was constructed in 1902 and 1903. Operations there ceased in 1951, and it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places earlier this year.

The housing plan was approved by the Kingston Planning Board in September 2012.

The building has two wings, a stair tower, an elevator shaft and a heat-generating plant. The rear of the lot abuts property owned by Ulster County.

About the Author

Paul Kirby is a reporter for the Freeman, covering Kingston politics. He has been at the Freeman since August 1996. Reach the author at pkirby@freemanonline.com
or follow Paul on Twitter: @PaulatFreeman.